


What doesn't kill you gives you friends.

by Sourlander



Category: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Genre: Angst, Gen, Owen Lars - Freeform, Regret, Rogue Robin, Star Wars - Freeform, roguerobin015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 01:12:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10979268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sourlander/pseuds/Sourlander
Summary: Owen Lars had been grateful for Obi-Wan’s help, had even asked him to stay the night… things could have been so much easier, had Owen been willing to see further than the sand-dunes around his farm. But then again, Luke might be safer the way things were, Obi-Wan had thought as he stared up at the ceiling in the early hours of the morning ...Part 3 of the Rogue Robin 2017.Part 1byPart 2by





	What doesn't kill you gives you friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my contribution to the Rogue Robin 2017. Thanks to the two authors who gave me the idea for this fic! This was fun!! And sorry this took so long. Real life and stuff got in the way ;)

** What doesn’t kill you gives you friends. **

 

Little Luke had grown up. He was tall like his father and looked so much alike… His hair reminded Obi-Wan of Anakin the most. Fifteen years ago, when he had been tentatively allowed back into Luke’s life every once in a while, the similarity had been more prominent. Once, when Luke had been twelve, Obi-Wan had seen him from afar, his back turned to Obi-Wan and back then, he had felt a violent stab in the pit of his stomach. Luke had looked so much like the young boy Qui-Gon had brought to the temple so many years ago.

            Every day Obi-Wan wondered what became of Leia. The little girl he left with Bail Organa looked like Padmé. She was a senator like her mother now, that much he knew, but not much more. She needed his help. The Empire had captured her. She was in danger.

Obi-Wan had vowed to watch over Luke, and he knew that Leia was in good care, but there were days, when Obi-Wan felt like he failed them all. Separating the twins seemed like the logical solution after the fall of the Republic, but sometimes he couldn’t help wondering… he failed Anakin. Anakin was dead. Anakin’s children had to be taken care of. By him. By Obi-Wan. And he had allowed one of those children to be taken from him.

            But Luke was just as far away from him. Even now they barely exchanged more than a few words per year. Owen Lars has seen to that. Yes, there had been times, when they interacted. There have been times when Owen helped Obi-Wan and times when Obi-Wan helped Owen. They had become neighbours certainly, and on certain occasions he had felt like they might become friends. But every time that tentative friendship had started to become a more tangible thing, an actual sense of mutual respect and understanding, Lars had pulled away. For obvious reasons. He didn’t want Luke to become involved with the Jedi, didn’t want the boy he considered his son to follow in Anakin Skywalker’s footsteps.

            Years and years ago, when the Junkland fever was retreating slowly but surely, Beru Lars had told Obi-Wan exactly what had happened the one time Anakin had visited them. The story sounded familiar, and Obi-Wan remembered Anakin’s despair at the loss of his mother and his inability to help her, when he had told his Master about her death, but it was different to hear it from someone else. Someone who had known the mother Anakin had left behind. A mother who suffered every day. A mother who had given her child away so it could be free and have the chance of a future. A mother who hoped her boy would return to her one day. A mother who felt guilty for starting a new life of her own with a man she loved. A mother who had become a woman missing her child, but relieved that he was leading the life he was meant to live. Beru had spoken of Shmi Skywalker with a warm tone in her voice and Obi-Wan had remembered how much Anakin had missed his mother when he had been younger.

            Anakin had become a murderer after his mother’s death. Obi-Wan had sensed his grief, his anger, and his despair, but he wouldn’t have thought him capable of what he had actually done. He had misjudged the situation. Just like he had done so often in his life. He had failed. He had failed the Jedi, he had failed Qui-Gon, he had failed Anakin and Padmé and he had failed their children. Luke most of all.

            The Tusken had attacked the Lars’ evaporators a few weeks ago in broad daylight, taking their interpreter droid out at the same time. Obi-Wan had seen them approach the Lars’ homestead from afar and had done his best to scare them off. Luke hadn’t been home then. The boy had spent the night at Tosche-Station when a sandstorm hit late afternoon, making it impossible for him to return before nightfall.

            Owen Lars had been grateful for Obi-Wan’s help, had even asked him to stay the night… things could have been so much easier, had Owen been willing to see further than the sand-dunes around his farm. But then again, Luke might be safer the way things were, Obi-Wan had thought as he stared up at the ceiling in the early hours of the morning after a long night, his muscles aching from wielding a lightsaber again after so many years, to fend off the attackers. Maybe Luke was better off not knowing after all. The only threat were the Tusken, a few rogue raiders, or Jabba’s thugs. Nothing compared to the dangers he might encounter once Luke got drawn into the fight between the Alliance and the Empire.

            That morning, Obi-Wan had thanked Owen and Beru for their hospitality and started off back towards his lonely home, just as Luke had drawn up to the house, his hair tousled by the long ride and a worried look on his face. He had passed the destroyed evaporators. After a short look at his aunt and uncle to make sure they were alright, he had offered to take Obi-Wan to his home. After exchanging a brief glance with Owen, Obi-Wan had declined. The boy looked so much like Anakin, it hurt. Even now, as Obi-Wan watched him approach in the red landspeeder, the troubled face made his insides churn. Luke was angry.

Angry.

Grief-stricken.

Lost.

And Obi-Wan felt the overwhelming pain start to creep up on him too. Not just for the boy who had just lost his family, but also for himself. The droids which had accompanied Padmé and Anakin for such a long time and which now belonged to Luke, chattered quietly in the background. Obi-Wan walked towards him.

He had sensed what would happen to Lars and Beru. The Force hadn’t left him. It had been impossible for him to come to their aid this time around. He might have been able to safe them, but risking to put Luke in the spotlight of an Imperial investigation had been out of the question. Pushing the thought of the two people who had helped him time and time again far from his mind, he braced himself to face Luke. Luke who had been dragged into this war for the second time now and who was so helpless against the magnitude of what was heading towards him now. Luke had to be his focus. Luke was the one person who could put an end to this war…

The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils. It reminded him of times long ago…times he would have liked to forget, but never could. He pushed that away, too. The boy needed him. Now more than ever. And he was about to drag him even further into this war.

He'd tell him everything. Soon. Once the grief that was overwhelming Luke right now had subsided somewhat. Once Luke was ready for the whole truth.

“There’s nothing you could have done, Luke, had you been there,” said Obi-Wan, “You would have been killed, too. And the droids would now be in the hands of the Empire.”

Luke had his head bowed, but now he looked up, his blue eyes flashing with determination. “I wanna come with you to Alderaan.” No words about his aunt and uncle. No tears. Just the steady voice in the hot afternoon sun. No. He wasn’t ready for the truth yet. “There’s nothing for me here, now. I wanna learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”

He looked like Anakin, but his spirit was not his father’s. Obi-Wan returned his gaze quietly for a while, then he stretched out his hand to put it on the boy’s shoulder. With a slight nod, he agreed.

Owen and Beru… they were gone… Obi-Wan had failed them, too. He couldn’t fail Luke again.


End file.
